Oculus Rift VR headset seeks Kickstarter funding

Want to help fund the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset? There's a Kickstarter for that. The folks behind the gaming-focused VR googles have taken to the crowdfunding site and are looking to raise $250,000 to fuel the creation of developer kits. Here's the pitch:

The Oculus Rift has an impressive list of supporters, including id's John Carmack, Epic's Cliff Bleszinski, and Valve's Gabe Newell. Carmack has been particularly vocal about his enthusiasm for the headset, which offers stereoscopic 3D rendering, low-latency head tracking, and a wide field of view. The current incarnation has a display resolution of only 1280x800—640x800 for each eye—but it apparently offers an immersive experience despite the limited number of pixels.

If the Kickstarter project is successful, backers who pledge at least $300 will get a developer kit of their own. The kit comes with the goggles, a copy of Doom 3: BFG Edition optimized for the headset, plus code samples, tutorials, and the like. Oculus is targeting developers early because it wants them to help shape the Rift's hardware and software.

Don't want to cough up hundreds of dollars for a dev kit? Shirts and posters are available for folks who want to help without breaking the bank. The project is about a third of the way to its goal already.